DOJ’s Report on Sheriff Joe’s Department of Real Justice

© Bridgette WTPOTUS

DOJ, ICE,  and Department of Homeland Security

Tie the Hands of the Nation’s Chief Law Enforcer!

Sheriff Joe continues to get hammered by Obama’s Department of Injustice and the leftist media as his department tries to maintain law and order and enforce immigration laws in Arizona as he has done for over 20 years. He is the champion sheriff who is attempting to follow the current federal laws on immigration and catch and rid our country of the aliens crossing the borders ILLEGALLY.

The DOJ began their lengthy investigation of Sheriff Joe’s department about 3 months after Obama illegally took office. As we have seen, the DOJ under Holder supports illegals and terrorists and their idea of law and order and following immigration laws is not only shown to be negligent, but almost treasonous.   Their parsing of words such as: “reasonable cause to believe; ” found a number” without specifics; and areas of serious concern,” are used, but yet the DOJ  filed no charges.  They are willing to work with the Sheriff’s department to rectify these problem areas!  These words  show their true intent to discredit the Sheriff’s department, and rid themselves of a real thorn in their side.

The report is damning and yet they found no widespread patterns after reviewing a sampling of the 45,000 cases that go through the Sheriff’s office yearly?  They wanted to find cases to bring down the Sheriff, and didn’t find them.   One or two charges by illegals or citizens who were caught in a raid and detained for questioning out of their available review of several years?  Other allegations by deputies  who were fired for cause should be used to back up their examples?   They also found problems with the way that Sheriff Joe delegated his work, and cited his notations on tip reports from citizens as being discriminatory.

It should be noted that the person tasked with the investigation of Sheriff Joe, Thomas Perez, heads the Justice Department’s civil rights division.  It is reported in an article,  “Obama’s Point Man on the Supreme Court Likely Perjured Himself about Black Panthers Case,” that Perez testified under oath before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on May 14, 2010.  He stated

that the decision to drop the Black Panthers case  was simply “a case of career [Justice Department] people disagreeing with career people” and proof of the “robust interaction” his employees enjoy.

Mr. J. Christian Adams, the DOJ’s whistleblower, also testified that Perez provided false testimony to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, that was investigating the DOJ’s decision to drop all of the charges against the Black Panthers. In a FOX interview, Adams said, that Perez ignored his warnings not to provide false testimony.

“We made it very clear that continuing to say that the facts and the law don’t support this case would not be consistent with the truth.”

Perez perjured himself, and yet his report on Arpaio is supposed to be believed when only accusations are made, yet the DOJ states in their press release, “While no formal findings of pattern or practice violations have been made in connection with these issues, the investigation remains ongoing.” If there are no patterns or practice violations, then why make the report public?  Within the report, they contradict themselves. They also use the word of anonymous fired sheriff department employees as well as  allegations made by anonymous illegal inmates to make their case.

This appears to be a political report with little basis but to allege discrimination against Hispanics to satisfy the Democratic voting base. What it really shows is that the DOJ supports the rights of illegals over American citizens, and especially to denigrate the work of Arpaio’s department regarding immigration.

Not to show partiality, the DOJ also released a report against the Seattle Police Department on December 16 where they issued similar findings of discrimination and some cases of excessive force.

In support of the DOJ’s Report, Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Insecurity,  removed the ability of the Maricopa Sheriff’s Department’s ability to enforce its laws.  How does the federal government sever ties with a law enforcement agency?  The Washington Post reported,

“The fallout from the report was swift. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security [Napolitano] announced it is severing its ties with Arpaio, stripping his jail officers of their federal power to check whether inmates in county jails are in the county illegally, a move that was meant to speed up deportation.”

Homeland security officials also are restricting Arpaio’s office from using a program that uses fingerprints collected in local jails to identify illegal immigrants.

Will Arizona citizens of Maricopa County rightfully support Sheriff Joe and denounce both the Department of Homeland Security and the DOJ?

Is it even surprising that this report is being released while Sheriff Joe’s Cold Case Posse is looking into the eligibility of the man illegally occupying the White House?

May the calls of impeachment for Attorney General Holder get louder and may all of these political appointments who support lawlessness have their day in court as well.

We the People have had enough of the Obama Administration’s Marxist corruption and lawlessness!

We Want a Return to Law and Order!

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Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 15, 2011

Department of Justice Releases Investigative Findings on the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Findings Show Pattern or Practice of Wide-ranging Discrimination Against Latinos and Retaliatory Actions Against Individuals Who Criticized MCSO Activities

WASHINGTON – Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department today announced its findings in the ongoing civil rights investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).  The Justice Department found reasonable cause to believe that MCSO, under the leadership of Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio, has engaged in a pattern or practice of misconduct that violates the Constitution and federal law.   The investigation, opened in June 2008, was conducted under the provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Title VI implementing regulations.

The department found reasonable cause to believe that a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct and/or violations of federal law occurred in several areas, including:

*      Discriminatory policing practices including unlawful stops, detentions and arrests of Latinos;
*      Unlawful retaliation against individuals exercising their First Amendment right to criticize MCSO’s policies or practices, including but not limited to practices relating to its discriminatory treatment of Latinos; and
*      Discriminatory jail practices against Latino inmates with limited English proficiency by punishing them and denying them critical services.

The Justice Department found a number of long-standing and entrenched systemic deficiencies that caused or contributed to these patterns of unlawful conduct, including:

*      A failure to implement policies guiding deputies on lawful policing practices;
*      Allowing specialized units to engage in unconstitutional practices;
*      Inadequate training;
*      Inadequate supervision;
*      An ineffective disciplinary, oversight and accountability system; and
*      A lack of sufficient external oversight and accountability.

In addition to these formal pattern or practice findings, the investigation uncovered additional areas of serious concern, including:

*      Use of excessive force;
*      Police practices that have the effect of significantly compromising MCSO’s ability to adequately protect Latino residents; and
*      Failure to adequately investigate allegations of sexual assaults.

While no formal findings of pattern or practice violations have been made in connection with these issues, the investigation remains ongoing.   

“MCSO’s systematic disregard for basic constitutional protections has created a wall of distrust between the sheriff’s office and large segments of the community, which dramatically compromises the ability to protect and serve the people,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The problems are deeply rooted in MCSO’s culture, and are compounded by MCSO’s penchant for retaliation against individuals who speak out.”

The department’s thorough and independent investigation involved an in-depth review of MCSO practices, as well as extensive community engagement.   Department attorneys, investigators and experts conducted interviews with more than 400 individuals including, 75 current and former MCSO supervisors and deputies, including Sheriff Arpaio, and 150 former and current MCSO inmates.   In addition, the department reviewed thousands of pages of documents.   Many of the interviews and much of this review was delayed when MCSO refused to provide required documents and access.   MCSO finally provided the required access and documents after the department filed a lawsuit under Title VI in September 2010.

Addressing the findings, and reforming MCSO, requires a sustained commitment to long term structural, cultural and institutional change.   MCSO must develop and implement new policies and procedures and train its officers in effective and constitutional policing.   In addition, MCSO must implement systems to ensure accountability, and eliminate unlawful bias from all levels of law enforcement decision making.

The department will seek to obtain a court enforceable agreement and will attempt to work with MCSO and Maricopa County officials to develop and implement a comprehensive reform plan with the judicial oversight needed to address the violations of the Constitution and federal law.

“Effective policing and constitutional policing go hand in hand.    Developing and implementing meaningful reforms will assist in reducing crime, ensuring respect for the Constitution, and ensuring that the people of Maricopa County have confidence in MCSO’s commitment to fair and effective law enforcement,” said Thomas E. Perez.   “We hope to resolve the concerns outlined in our findings in a collaborative fashion, but we will not hesitate to take appropriate legal action if MCSO chooses a different course of action.”

This investigation was conducted by the Special Litigation Section and the Federal Coordination and Compliance Section of the Civil Rights Division with the assistance of law enforcement professionals, including former police chiefs, a jail practices consultant and a consultant on statistical analysis.

The full report can be found here.